Abrams Delight 7 Oct - 8 Oct 2023
Go see Abrams Delight Today. Look at a moment when this area was part of the British Empire. The Virginia Regiment is there. General Braddock was there yesterday. Maryland forces are there. And so is is the smell of Fall and Campfire.
See videos of this annual event in 2018 here:
"Slim" Lt Charles Smith connection.
He learned to build Forts under Captain Waggener on the South Branch of the Potomac. Lt Charles Smith became head foreman of construction of Fort Loudoun Winchester VA. Charles Smith married the daughter of John Hite who was the son of Jost Hite.
John Hite's 1753 home, Springdale, south of Winchester on Rt 11 was built by stonemason Simon Taylor who also built Abram's Delight.
History on Abrams Delight
Echo Village Sign and Abrams Delight Cabin
What about that log cabin on Abrams Delight? That cabin used to sit near this corner you see in picture below. It was built in 1780. It was moved in 1967 to Abram's Delight. It is younger than the stone building known as Abram's Delight.
Skip around.
Read bits and pieces.
See all sorts of connctions that cabin.
If you've lived in Winchester over 3 decades, you'll remember the Echo Village Budget Motel Sign. It shouted at you from the wall of the house on the corner of Cork and Braddock. Diagonally opposite that corner is the George Washington Office Museum. And yet at the same interesection stood another iconic place, The Braddock Sport Shop with its balcony reminding you of New Orleans.
But back to this corner with the sign that is no longer there.
That Echo Village Budget Motel sign lasted how long?
We know it was there at least from 1975 to at least 1992.
Was it there before 1975 to after 1992?
We leave that to any reader with photographic evidence. We will update this for any corrections received.
I vaguely recall it was still there in the early 2000s.
We know it wasn't there in 1950. We know the Echo Village Budget Motel itself did not exist in 1940. That site was still the Esso Village gas station in 1940. The concrete blocks for the gas station are still in front of the Echo Village Motel.
But this is a website about Fort Loudoun and its time period.
In this year of 2023 we are scouring over the events of 1759. Fort Loudoun is still being used as a garrison and supply place. There's still trouble, north, west and south. So we wonder what other related things are going on in Winchester VA at this time.
One of them was this corner lot in 1758. This lot was almost a year old in 1759. A log cabin was built on it later in 1780. The stone house on the corner itself, which held the Echo Village Budge Motel Sign, was built still later in circa 1818.
That cabin sat near to this corner on the Cork Street side, a little to right of the building that held the Echo Village Budget Motel Sign.
The cabin was moved to Abrams Delight and reassembled there in 1967.
That cabin is not as old as the stone house known as Abrams Delight which was built in 1754, the oldest existing building in Winchester VA.
But there was an older building than Abrams Delight still existing in 2010. It was the old Elms Motel on Valley Ave in Winchester VA. It was the Isaac Perkins Sr house built in the 1730s. The Winchester Star, in an interview of Jun 19, 2014 with a local historian, Jeff Chamberlain, stated, "He has one [a photograph] of the Isaac Parkins Sr. house, believed to be the oldest stone house in Winchester, built in the 1730s. “It predated Abrams Delight,” he said." But here's another reference to another Isaac Perkins house located here.
That's it.
That's our lead story.
There's always more.
Skip around.
Read bits and pieces.
Compiled and authored by Jim moyer 6/25/23, updated 6/28/2023, added 1758 and 1759 additions to Winchester contents 7/2/2023
Table of Contents
Garland R Quarles on this corner
Sources
Log structures tell history in the wood
1758 James Wood Edition
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Garland R Quarles on this corner
Mr William Greenway Russell, writing in 1876, concerning homes on Braddock Street, says, "On the south side of Cork Street stands an old stone house now occupied by Samuel Noakes. This is one of the oldest houses in town, formerly occupied by Benjamin Langley, afterwards by his son, William." (Russell, page 36)
This house is now occupied by the Peoples Barbershop and is owned by HT McGolerick.
1758
This old building, really part brick and part stone, stands on part of Lot Number 13 in the James Wood Addition of 1758 to the Town of Winchester.
The entire lot had a frontage of 117 feet on the west side of Braddock Street and extended westward along Cork Street 188 feet 6 inches.
1788
This lot was conveyed 10 Jan 1788, by Mary Wood, widow of James Wood, to Samuel Boyd. The record of this conveyance was in Frederick County Deed Book - Superior Court Number 1, which volume disappeared during the Civil War.
1790
Samuel Boyd devised the lot to his two sons, Samuel and John Boyd (FWB 5 Page 234) in 1790,
[Blog Author note: The cabin was built 1780. A log cabin located on the west lawn dates to 1780 and was reconstructed on the premises in 1967. The cabin, located right across the west lawn of “Abram’s Delight”, is not Abraham’s but is similar to his. It is included with the tour of the main house, states Abram's Delight website, https://winchesterhistory.org/abrams-delight . ]
and on 31 July 1810,
the Boyd brothers sold the property to Nicholas Sperry, the price being $440 (FDB 33 page 335).
In 1818
the heirs of Nicholas Sperry converyed the property to Levi Wickham for $1000 (WDB 4 Page 85). It is apparent (because of the price increase) that the corner house was built by this time.
[Blog Author note: Quarles seems to indicate the building on the corner that held the Echo Village Budget Motel sign was built between 1810 and 1818 judging by the price difference]
1828
As a result of the foreclosure deed of trust given by Levi Wickham, Obed Waite, Trustee, conveyed a part of the Lot 13 to William Langley November 14, 1828, the part conveyed on the southwest corner of Braddock and Cork Streets fronting 22 feet on Braddock Street (WDB 6 Page 246), and containing the brick and stone house.
[Blog Author note: Because Langley was a cooper, a builder of barrels for storage, is this year of 1828 evidence the log cabin was first used as a barrel making place? We are currently looking for tree ring analysis of the cabin to confirm that it existed before Langley bought and used the cabin for his cooper store.]
William Langley was a cooper, and undoubtedly used the log house that, until recent years, stood on Cork Street in the rear of the corner house as a cooper's shop. We know this because when the heirs of William Langley sold the property to Samuel G Noakes in 1857 it was described as containing "a brick and stone house on the corner of Cork and Braddock Streets and a log house formerly used as a cooper's shop, but now as a dwelling on Cork Street" (FDB 83 Page 594).
The log house was torn down several years ago,
[ Blog Author note: because Garland Quarles' writing of this was published in 1967, we might conclude the log cabin was dismantled several years before the log were bought and reassembled in 1967 on the grounds of Abrams Delight.
The picture here from Handley archives is dated Sept 1967 and looks to still in the process of construction.
BTW on the side of the cabin now facing Abrams Delight stone building you can see evidence of some adjoining logs assembled upside down right above the doorway.
Still, we are lucky and grateful for those who worked so hard to save this log cabin. ]
the logs having been acquired by the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. (This house was reassembled by the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. and is now on the grounds at Abram's Delight.)
On November 29, 1897,
RT Barton, Special Commissioner in the Cause of Herman E Noakes vs Samuel G Noakes, conveyed the Noakes house and lot to RM Henry (WDB 23 - Page 110), and on
September 2, 1901
Henry sold it to James B Russell (WDB 24 - Page 391). In 1911 Russell convery the eastern end of this lot containing the corner house to Isaac S Mason. He reserved the western end which joined his own Washington Street property (WDB 29 - Page 84).
In 1944
the Mason property was conveyed by James P Reardon, Special Commissioner to HT Golerick, it being described as a stone and brick building at the southwest corner of Braddock and Cork Street, fronting on Braddock 21 feet, which property was devised by the late Isaac Mason to his wife Sue J Mason (WDB 65 - Page 545).
Sources:
Page 77-79, The Story of One Hundred Old Homes in Winchester Virginia by Garland R Quarles,copyright 1967 by Garland R Quarles, reprinted 1993, 2005 by Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. Printed by Comercial Press, Stephens City.
FDB = Fredericky County deed books. WDB = Winchester deed books.
Sources:
Quarles book
Page 77-79, The Story of One Hundred Old Homes in Winchester Virginia by Garland R Quarles,copyright 1967 by Garland R Quarles, reprinted 1993, 2005 by Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. Printed by Comercial Press, Stephens City.
FDB = Fredericky County deed books. WDB = Winchester deed books.
Willam Greenway Russell book
Page 36. What I know about Winchester by William Greenway Russell, 1876.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived(PDF)
from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
Abrams Delight
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He’s always on the lookout for photos of Winchester, especially of houses from its early era.
He has one of the Isaac Parkins Sr. house, believed to be the oldest stone house in Winchester, built in the 1730s.
“It predated Abrams Delight,” he said.
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"201 S Braddock"
"Echo Village"
Braddock Sport Shop
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Log structures tell history in the wood
Maggie Wolff Peterson Special to The Winchester Star
Nov 5, 2016 Updated Nov 5, 2016
WINCHESTER — The history of settlement in the eastern United States is still easily visible in the log homes that remain, according to Moss Rudley, superintendent at the Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, Md. Rudley spoke on Thursday at a Lunch and Learn lecture at Oakcrest Properties’ headquarters on Kent Street. The event was sponsored by Preservation of Historic Winchester.
Depending on the way logs were finished and stacked, historians can tell whether they were made by Scotch-Irish or by German settlers, Rudley said. Scotch-Irish builders tended to use dovetail joints, while Germans used a style known as steeple, or V-notches, to secure the logs, he said. Having immigrated from Europe in the 1600s and 1700s, the settlers found an abundance of timber far greater in the U.S. than the exhausted forests they left behind, Rudley said. Whereas European builders had begun using scarce timber more as a framing material, the American settlers cut whole logs, then finished them to make log homes.
Tools were simple, he said. A couple of axes and perhaps an adze were all the builders had to make their timber uniform and smooth. Scrap wood became chinking that filled spaces between logs before mud daubing sealed the spaces. “It’s quite a process just to prepare all the logs,” Rudley said. It might take an entire day just to prepare two of the 60 logs necessary to build a two-story, 400 square foot cabin with 7-foot ceilings, he said.
In Winchester, perhaps the most visible vernacular log home is located at Abram’s Delight on Pleasant Valley Road. Built in the 1700s, it was moved by the Winchester Historical Society in the 1960s to its current location and used as part of the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center.
“It came over from Cork Street,” said George Schember, president of the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. “It was on the corner of Cork and Braddock streets, and it was being destroyed.”
The historical society dismantled the building and rebuilt it at its current location, Schember said. Having attended the Lunch and Learn lecture, he said that Rudley offered good information on how best to maintain the log building. “And it gives us a name we can call in the future,” Schember said. Rudley has been involved in several reclamations of log houses that were near ruin. In addition to historic structures, such as the Kentucky cabin said to be Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home, Rudley has worked on old slave cabins, barns and granaries, he said. And in addition to the building at Abram’s Delight, Winchester still has several standing log structures, including George Washington’s Office Museum on Cork Street. Many original log homes here are obscured beneath updated siding. One of these is the Patsy Cline house museum on Kent Street, according to a museum volunteer.
“In the Shenandoah Valley, log structures were very common,” Rudley said.
He suggested that a combination of traditional techniques and modern materials work best to stabilize the structures. Old-fashioned “Dutchman” joints use wooden dowels to splice new wood into existing logs, allowing restoration without total sacrifice of original beams. And modern cements are useful in repairing crumbling mud daubing in log homes, Rudley said.
North-facing walls are especially susceptible to wood decay, fungal deterioration, dry rot and insect infestation, Rudley said. “You’ll see lichens and things growing,” he said. “Very rarely do you find a cabin that is exposed to the weather that has the original daubing.”
It is even possible to chemically “patina” wood, so it appears weathered and grayed, Rudley said. “So they’re not so new-appearing,” he said. “Tannins in the wood react to gray it.” “When you’re restoring, you try to focus on what was done originally, so you can match it,” Rudley said.
The Historic Preservation Training Center, where Rudley works, is dedicated to the safe preservation and maintenance of national parks or partner facilities.
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1758 James Wood Addition
Thursday, the 21st of September, 32 Geo. II, 1758
[meaning 32nd year of the reign of King George II ]
A Petition of James Wood praying, That an Act may pass for enlarging the Town of Winchefter by adding 156 Lots already laid off adjoining thereto, was prefented to the Houfe and read.
1st Session
page 3, September 14, 1758, to October 12, 1758
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.Friday, the 6th of October, 32 Geo. II, 1758
[meaning 32nd year of the reign of King George II ]
.An ingroffed Bill, intituled, An Ad for ereding a Town on the land of I^wis Stephens, in the County of Frederick, for enlarging the Town of Winchefter, and for ereding a Town on the Lands of Nicholas Minor, in the County of Loudoun, was read a third Time, and the Blanks therein filled up.
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.1st Session
page 3, September 14, 1758, to October 12, 1758
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Thursday , the 12th of October, 32 Geo. II, 1758
Law 3. For erecting a Town on the Land of Lewis Stepheyis, in the County of Frederick, for enlarging the Town of Winchefter;, and for ereding a Town on the Lands of Nicholas Minor, in the County of Loudoun.
1st Session
page 3, September 14, 1758, to October 12, 1758
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Notes to reorganize
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About Abrams Delight
Emphasis is on the cabin. The cabin was not originally part of Abram’s Delight. It was moved to the property in 1967 from its original location at Braddock and Cork.
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ABRAM’S DELIGHT
Wikipedia link
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Loghouse
Just in case you missed the lecture.
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See Winchester Star, Friday 4 November 2016
Log homes in Winchester VA
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Excerpts:
It might take an entire day just to prepare two of the 60 logs necessary to build a two-story, 400 square foot cabin with 7-foot ceilings…
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Abrams Delight Loghouse origins
Built in the 1700s, it was moved by the Winchester Historical Society in the 1960s to its current location and used as part of the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center.
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This is not a still life.
Navigate the Google Car with your Mouse or Touchscreen.
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“It came over from Cork Street,”
said George Schember, president of the
Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society.
“It was on the corner of Cork and Braddock streets,
and it was being destroyed.”
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The historical society dismantled the building and rebuilt it at its current location,
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Drive the Google Car around this cabin,
built 1780 and moved here in 1967
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Other log buildings –
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Many original log homes here are obscured beneath updated siding.
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One of these is the Patsy Cline house museum on Kent Street, according to a museum volunteer
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Editors Note:
Stories of wood taken from Fort Loudoun to build a few homes.
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North-facing walls are especially susceptible to wood decay, fungal deterioration, dry rot and insect infestation,
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“You’ll see lichens and things growing,”
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“Very rarely do you find a cabin that is exposed to the weather that has the original daubing.”
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Scotch-Irish builders tended to use dovetail joints, while Germans used a style known as steeple, or V-notches, to secure the logs, he said.
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Lecture given by
Moss Rudley, superintendent at the Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick,
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Held Thursday [3 Nov 2016] at a Lunch and Learn lecture
at Oakcrest Properties’ headquarters on Kent Street.
The event was sponsored by Preservation of Historic Winchester
.
Sources:
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Winchester Star article
Friday 4 November 2016
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Abrams Delight
The Stone House was built 1754.
A log cabin, built in 1780 and similar to the one built by Abraham, was moved to the property in 1967. Abram’s Delight was added to the VLR on November 9, 1972, and the NRHP on April 11, 1973.[2][4][5]
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National Park Service short article
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Any houses older than Abrams Delight?
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There are older houses in the area.
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He’s always on the lookout for photos of Winchester, especially of houses from its early era.
He has one of the Isaac Parkins Sr. house, believed to be the oldest stone house in Winchester, built in the 1730s.
“It predated Abrams Delight,” he said.
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LINKS
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For more about the Virginia Regiment George Mercer Company: . http://frenchandindianwarfoundation.org/event/george-mercer/?instance_id=2586 . And more on this group: . http://jimmoyer1.wixsite.com/mercercompany1stva . And about Fort Loudoun Winchester VA where they were one of the several companies building that fort: . http://jimmoyer1.wixsite.com/fortloudounva/news-and-stories-blog . And a World Wide Map of what Churchill called the First World War: . http://jimmoyer1.wixsite.com/fortloudounva/forts-on-the-frontier
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